After the game, Frank Vogel suggested David West could have set an actual screen for Hill, but he never came close to doing so, and it doesnít appear West had any intention of setting a real screen. He instead ran hard up toward Hill as if he were going to screen Metta World Peace, only to suddenly veer off toward the top of the 3-point arc and away from Hill.

Monty Williams ran this play with West and Chris Paul all the time in New Orleans, especially in clutch situations. It was a straight-up decoy then; Williams instructed West merely to fake a screen for Paul before darting away toward the center of the court, as he did last night. The idea, Williams has told me, is to trick the point guardís defender (World Peace) into thinking a screen is coming to Hillís right. In anticipation of that pick, a defender will often open up his stance slightly, better angling himself to chase the point guard over the pick, as World Peace does here:

Saw it on Indy Cornrows (http://www.indycornrows.com/2012/11/28/3703724/lowe-george-hills-game-winner-for-pacers-drawn-from-david-wests-past).

righteouscool

11-29-2012, 03:08 AM

Hadn't seen this posted yet. It seems like the Pacers get more than expected coverage from Grantland.

I watched the video several times. I'm concluding that it doesn't have to be all that sophisticated. There's no need for anticipating an Artest millisecond pause or something; he's supposed to switch anyway. I guess it's good to have a quick Hill against a slower footed Gasol, but I'm not so sure the best percentage situation is a floater with Gasol right behind you and the best defender in the NBA in front of you.

What you have here is an absolutely fantastic shot by George Hill. I could watch it 20 more times.

TinManJoshua

11-29-2012, 12:10 PM

Nice post.

I watched the video several times. I'm concluding that it doesn't have to be all that sophisticated. There's no need for anticipating an Artest millisecond pause or something; he's supposed to switch anyway. I guess it's good to have a quick Hill against a slower footed Gasol, but I'm not so sure the best percentage situation is a floater with Gasol right behind you and the best defender in the NBA in front of you.

What you have here is an absolutely fantastic shot by George Hill. I could watch it 20 more times.

What impressed me about the shot was he had the presence of mind to put it high off the glass. His decision was correct, and he adjusted his layup to anticipate Dwight coming over and put it in a spot where D12 couldn't get a hand on it.

pacers74

11-29-2012, 12:15 PM

It was a great play, and a great way to get World Peace off of Hill. I'll take Gasol trying to keep up with Hill anyday.

Maybe Frank can talk to M.Williams some more and get Hill to turn into a CP clone.

pacers74

11-29-2012, 12:17 PM

What impressed me about the shot was he had the presence of mind to put it high off the glass. His decision was correct, and he adjusted his layup to anticipate Dwight coming over and put it in a spot where D12 couldn't get a hand on it.

The said on the post game show that Hill practices that shot more than anyone else in the NBA.

Jon Theodore

11-29-2012, 01:12 PM

The said on the post game show that Hill practices that shot more than anyone else in the NBA.

This is a shot that requires a lot of practice to be consistent with, as a smaller player one would be wise to master it. You can just see Hill's confidence with the shot, he knew it was in before it was in.

Eleazar

11-29-2012, 02:29 PM

What impressed me about the shot was he had the presence of mind to put it high off the glass. His decision was correct, and he adjusted his layup to anticipate Dwight coming over and put it in a spot where D12 couldn't get a hand on it.

What makes that even better is if Hill did hit it off too hard Mahinmi was right there for an easy put back.

AesopRockOn

11-29-2012, 06:12 PM

What impressed me about the shot was he had the presence of mind to put it high off the glass.

Hill's best attribute on offense is the touch on his floater in the lane.